Wire fence.



No. 640,907 Patflnted Ian. 9, I900. J. E. HEAD.

WIRE FENCE.

(Application filed Apr. 4, 1899.)

(No Model.)

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES EWART HEAD, OF PARIS, TENNESSEE.

WIRE FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 640,907, dated January9, 1900. Application filed April 4:, 1899. Serial No. 711,705. (N0model) T0 all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES EWAR'l HEAD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Paris, in the county of Henry and State of Tennessee, haveinvented a new and useful Wire Fence, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to wire fences, and particularly to a wire-fencestay; and the object in view is to provide a simple, compact, andefficient construction and arrangement of parts whereby the uppermostrunner is capable of downward deflection when subjected to a strain,such as that due to the application of weight, without affecting thesubjacent runners or the portion of the stay connecting the same.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing description,and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a fenceconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail View inperspective of the upper portion of the stay, including the movablemember and the adjacent extremity of the fixed member to show therelation between the interlocked portions thereof.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures of the drawings.

In the improved fence, 1 represents the runners, which may be supportedby suitable uprights 2, and at intervals said runners are connected bytransverse members or stays, each of which consists of a fixed member 3and a movable member or link 4. The fixed member 3 of the stayintersects the lowermost runner and all of the intermediate runners andis provided in the plane of each runner with an integral coiled eye 5,the uppermost eye being offset laterally from the plane. of the runnersto form a hooked linkseat 6, embracing the runner-wire next below theuppermost wire and also receiving the lower end of the loop 4, as willbe hereinafter described. The link 4 is of looped construction and isformed from a single blank of wire doubled upon itself at spaced intermediate points and provided with interlocked terminal eyes 7, thuslocating the interlocked extremities of the link at or near the centerof one side of the loop formed by the link. The upper end of the loop isengaged loosely with the uppermost runner of the fence and the lower endof the loop thereof with the seat 6 at the upper end of the fixed staymember 3 at one side of the plane of the runners, whereby the uppermostrunner is capable of downward movement or deflection in dependently ofthe link 4, and the link is capable of downward movement independ entlyof the fixed stay member 3 to allow depression of the uppermost runnerwithout affecting the intermediate and lower runners and also withoutaffecting the main stay member 3, whereby said lower and intermediaterunners are connected.

By reference particularly to Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings it willbe noted that the upper portion of the loop 4 is disposed in a plane atsubstantially right angles to the fence, so as to embrace the uppermostrunner-wire, and the'lower portion of the loop is twisted or deflectedin a plane at substantially right angles to the upper portion of theloop and parallel with the fence, so that this lower portion may engagethe offset hooked portion 6 at the upper end .of the fixed stay member.Furthermore, the lower portion of the loop 4 is located between thecontiguous sides of the fixed stay member and the runner-wire, wherebythe loop is prevented from being displaced laterally from the fixed staymember, and as the loop engages the inner side of the runner-wire, asplainly indicated in Fig. 2, said runner-wire cannot be displaced fromthe hooked seat 6.

The advantage of this construction resides in the fact that the weightof a person or an animal leaning upon the uppermost runner will not tendto distort the body portion of the stay, and thus permanently varyingthe intervals between the runners. Upon the removal of the strain theuppermost runner will return by its resilience to its normal position,having the weight only of the links 4 to elevate, and hence the fencewill return to its normal condition. It will be seen, furthermore, thatthe eyes 5, by which themain or fixed stay member is attached to theintermediate and lower runners, snugly fit said runners, and thusmaintain said main stay member in a fixed position with relation to therunners and prevent displacement of the member 3 in a direction parallelwith the runners, while the link 4, which is engaged with the offsetseat portion 6 at the upper end of the stay member 3, is held by thelatter from displacement parallel with the runners and at the same timeallows that free movement of the uppermost runner both vertically andlaterally, which is desirable in structures of this class.

Having described my invention, what I claim is In a wire fence; thecombination with upper, lower, and intermediate runner-wires, of a stay,comprising a main fixed stay member connecting the lower andintermediate runner-wires in fixed relation, and having its upper endprovided with a lateral offset hooked portion embracing the intermediaterunnerwire next below the uppermost runner-wire,

and a movable stay member comprising a loop having its upper portionarranged in a plane substantially at right angles to the fence andloosely embracing the uppermost runner-wire, and the lower portion ofthe loop being twisted or deflected into a plane substantially at rightangles to that of the upper portion and loosely embracing the upperhooked portion of the fixed stay member, located between the latter andthe adjacent runner-wire, and slidable downwardly upon the fixed staymember, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES EWART HEAl).

Witnesses:

G. L. FRYER, FELIX F. PORTER, J r.

